Skip to main content

New branding, signage & web design for 1867 cafe & restaurant.

If you live anywhere near West Northamptonshire, then may be familiar with the Heart of the Shires Shopping Village.  A shopping village outlet on the Northamptonshire/Warwickshire border that offers individual, independent retailers with real character and most importantly, a restaurant and tearoom for all to enjoy.

We were kindly approached by returning clients Paul Campbell & Andreea Calenic to produce an eye catching new brand, some unmissable signage and an easy to use mobile web experience to help launch the rebranding and management takeover of ‘Darlingtons’, which would later become The 1867 – a neat new name inspired by the year the building was built.

Since it’s launch, the rebrand has been well received amongst the local community, which was music to our ears. It’s always challenging working on rebrands with established businesses that have so much local presence, as not everyone is a fan of change initially. But we’re glad to hear on this occasion, we must have got something right. Of course, don’t just take our word for it, read what Andreea & Paul think…

Our network of businesses have been working with the Blayney Partnership for more than 30 years now so that says a lot about the level of experience and expertise their team has. Within that time, they have built and changed 4 websites for us across different industries from an art gallery retail type site to an estate agency and later even a restaurant site. All of those have different nuances and needs that have been well considered during the building and designing process and all the team members have always come up the best solutions and options to make the websites the most efficient, user friendly, beautiful and creative.

Andreea CalenicThe 1867

Andreea continues: “I have mostly worked with Ollie and Ozz on our projects and I can honestly say that they really are some natural creative breeds and can probably teach degrees on it. However, they also have one thing that you can’t teach or learn, and that is the passion they have for each project they take on. We have created significant parts of history of our businesses within the four walls of their head quarters with their help. From initial branding to websites, leaflets, merchandise and everything in between.

Anytime we share our vision about a website or a change we want to make to our current websites, they are brilliant at bringing the picture in our heads to life so that we have the best platform to communicate with our customers. They are also patient in teaching us how to manage our own sites so that we have a certain level of independence which is a great advantage as not all designers will do that just so you have to ask them anytime you want a basic change which can get costly and frustrating.

There are many ways of trying to achieve what Blayney’s do by doing it yourself or paying amateurs to do it but it would cost us a lot of trial and error, time and ultimately money that no successful business has to throw away to waste. So if we want the best product, we think it’s best to pay the best professional to do it. We have trusted Ozz and Ollie to handle the faces of our brands and they have never disappointed and on that basis, I have and would recommend them to all of our friends and business associates.”

They are always easy to get hold off and are also respectful and mindful of timescales which often can be a massive problem with other designers we have encountered previously. Any business needs a good team of accountants, lawyers, suppliers and I think digital design experts like Blayney's are definitely a must on that list, those are the ones that will make you or break you.

Everyone in the team is awesome. We have had the great fortune of having both Ollie and Ozz on most of our projects and they are simply brilliant. I couldn't choose only one of them so if you get both of them working with you then lucky you that's all I can say!

Thank you Blayney Partnership for your expertise and being part of our journey.

Paul CampbellThe 1867

We would love to hear from you!

If you would like to find out more about our branding, web development & web design services, or have a project you would like us to quote on, please feel free to contact us.

Call us on 01604 671 714

Oliver Blayney

Thanks for reading my article!

My goal is to always challenge expectations and break boundaries with both digital dark arts & printed solutions. Design is his passion, and he looks forward to sharing it!

View all by Oliver